Loudon Investment Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Loudon Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,186 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 150 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 7.5% of Loudon Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Loudon Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $13,523,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marino Stram & Associates LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 19,668 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,783,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Rogco LP grew its stake in Microsoft by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Rogco LP now owns 10,520 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,233,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Pacific Point Advisors LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Pacific Point Advisors LLC now owns 11,061 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,502,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Impact Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Impact Capital Partners LLC now owns 38,356 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $19,079,000 after acquiring an additional 1,275 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rolek Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Rolek Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,761 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $876,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “buy” rating and issued a $640.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Raymond James Financial upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Arete upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $700.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $618.97.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total transaction of $2,557,502.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total transaction of $75,315,699.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 790,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $399,206,272.56. The trade was a 15.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $513.58 on Monday. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $555.45. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $511.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $477.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35. The company has a market cap of $3.82 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.95 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Microsoft Profile

Microsoft Corporation develops and supports software, services, devices and solutions worldwide. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers office, exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft viva, and Microsoft 365 copilot; and office consumer services, such as Microsoft 365 consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other office services.